Another Chance?
by TheMaroonMaid
Summary: Jeff isn't talking and isn't as he was before. Michael finds a dreaded secret that drives the teen away, forcing Michael to take him to a hospital to get him fixed up after a severe cut. (Request)


_Click._

The door shut and off Jeff went, up the stairs without a word. Dropping his overcoat over the back of the couch, Slender man looked towards the top of the stairs a moment. He sighed and looked away as he bow his head to slip the diamond-shaped necklace off his neck. Tucking it in his chest pocket, he sat down on the couch, calming his nerves enough to concentrate and change back into his demon form. A close call forced him to transform.

Weeks upon weeks he'd acted this way, and still Michael hadn't found a way to deal with it, nor had he found out why.

* * *

That night, while Jeff was out in the woods walking around, Michael went to his room. Something had to be in there to help him figure this out. Not more than five minutes he'd been looking around did he find Jeff's knife on the table. When he walked over, he found something else there. Razors.

Picking one up, he found there was dried, dark blood on the blade. Michael stood there, turning the blade over in his hands a moment more, before picking up the others with care. He paused, then picked up the knife, too.

* * *

Jeff came home late, around eleven that night. As soon as Slender man heard the door open, he looked up from the book he was reading. The teen glanced at him solemnly, then moved with quick steps past the couch, to go back upstairs.

~_Ah, wait a moment, Jeffery,~_ Michael told him, closing the book and setting it aside.

Jeff's pace only quickened and he reached the bottom stair before Slender man teleported behind him, grabbing his upper-arm to halt him.

Jeff spun around at his touch, yanking his arm away from Slender man's grip.

~_You want to tell me what these were for?~_ Slender asked, holding the razors up for Jeff to see them.

The teen's eyes widened a moment, but he visibly relaxed.

"It's just a razor." He mumbled, looking away from Michael's gaze.

Slender shook his head,~_No, they aren't.~_

Jeff rolled his eyes,"What else would they be?"

~_Depends on what your wrists look like,~_ Slender replied seriously.

Jeff's hands went behind his back, and he took a step backwards. He didn't say anything, but he kept his eyes on Michael, watching him.

~_Jeff-~_

Jeff spun around and took off towards the door, yanking it open and running outside.

Michael sighed. He teleported on the front porch. Jeff gasped as he crashed straight into him. Before he could back up, Slender grabbed both his arms and pushed him in front of him, consequently pushing his sleeves up just passed his wrists. Jeff's face grew paler than before, his scar a sickening red in contrast. He squirmed and writhed pathetically to push his sleeves down or get away from Michael.

Many scars covered Jeff's arms and wrists. Slender had hoped he'd been wrong, but he was seeing it now.

"_Let me go!_" Jeff demanded, hiding his face afterwards as tears stung his eyes.

Michael shook his head and took him upstairs to clean his cuts.

* * *

~_Jeffery! This is not a joke anymore!~_ Slender man shouted, searching the rooms in the mansion.

Jeff was no where to be seen. He knew where he went by this point. He had to have gone into the city. He wasn't in the mansion, and what was in the forest for him?

Michael teleported out of the mansion, into an alley in the city. He looked around, pressed against a wall to avoid being seen as he transformed. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, a foot shorter than normal, and slacks with a vest, tie, and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Almost a half an hour of worried, frantic searching passed in the dark city before Michael found him.

The trail started with a jump over a wall in one alley, from a coal factory near by, and footsteps, then more jumping scuffs and more footsteps. They were running. A right turn down the sidewalk, and more running. That's when Michael found the blood, and group of footprints around a large black mark, next to which was blood.

The group went one way, while the blood trail went another. Slender followed the blood and it lead into an alley, where he found Jeff, head tilted back against the brick wall, eyes shut and tear-stains on his cheeks. His arm was bleeding badly, and the teen was unconscious. Slender, in his rush, picked the teen up hastily and ran through the town, knowing it well, to the nearest hospital.

* * *

The next morning, Jeff was put in a hospital room after stitches. He still hadn't woken up, but he was alive. Michael had to wait forever before he heard this news. Visiting hours came, and he only walked to the empty, barren room with Jeff in it, and looked at the teen.

In the short sleeved hospital shirt, he saw plainly the cuts on his arms.

Sighing shakily, he turned, and left to go to the mansion for a bit, to get out of this wretched place.

Michael felt a hand on his shoulder before someone said breathlessly 'Sir!'.

He turned to see a red-faced nurse.

"Sir, you can't t-?" She stopped, her expression turning from annoyance to surprise, then worry in the same second.

"Can I help you?" Michael asked, shrugging her hand off his shoulder.

"Didn't you take your son to the car to leave?" She asked.

Michael cringed slightly at the reference to Jeff's relation to him. Then his gaze returned downwards to hers, eyes narrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"H-He's not in his room, we assumed you took him home..." the nurse explained in a shaky tone.

Michael pushed past her, taking long, quick strides back to Jeff's hospital room. When he got there, he did indeed find and empty bed. His face paled close to what his demons skin was. He spun around to see the nurse scurrying to the room behind him, and as she stopped at the door, Slender exploded.

"_How could you possibly __**lose**_ _one of your patients?" _He shouted.

"S-Sir, I-"

Before she could finish, Slender shoved her out of the way before running out of the hospital.

A fly buzzed around his head, brushing his nose. Michael reached up and swatted at it, then turned and walked down the street, checking alleys and other places Jeff might have hidden.

_Bzzz__zz__zzz__zzz__zzzz-_

_"_Damned flies" Michael mumbled, waving it away again.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Twenty.

Michael, stomach tied in knots at this point, gave up looking and leaned back against an alley wall, only to slump down onto the ground of the concrete alley. He tilted his head back, lips pressed tight together in an attempt to keep from whimpering at his sorrows.

_Bzzz__zz__zzz__zzz__zzzz...Bzz...Zip!_

Slender opened his eyes only to aim for the fly to kill it, but instead he saw Jeff standing there, his hoodie on, three clawed- tears in the arm to reveal blood-stained bandages to match the stain on his sweatshirt. He had a look on his face of both pain and confusion, blue eyes looking down at the brown in Michael's.

Slender man couldn't have moved any faster as he pushed himself up off the ground to his feet. He felt relief wash over his worry and carry it away. He wrapped his arms around the teen before him. He'd been the fly, undoubtedly, following Michael in hopes he'd lead the teen home.

Jeff's eyes widened, then shut slightly again, stinging with tears as he returned the hug carefully, clinging to Michael. Just as tears trailed down his face, slender pulled away.

"What do you think you're doing? You could have hurt yourself!" Slender scolded.

Jeff blushed and looked down, sniffling.

Michael stood, shaking his head as he took hold of Jeff's arm.

"Come on, we're going back to the hospital t-" He began, but was cut short by a cry from Jeff as the teen yanked his arm away.

"No! Don't…Don't take me back there," He yelled, then finished as if his voice was a whimper.

Michael looked back at him, hands at his sides. Jeff returned his gaze from under his bangs, sniffling again as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Slender man sighed.

"Alright, alright...we'll go back to the mansion." he gave in quietly.

Jeff said nothing. Michael held out his hand to him, checking for any passersby so he could teleport. Jeff took his hand and off they went back to the mansion.

* * *

Jeff was sitting on his bed, new bandages on his arm, his sweatshirt mended at the sleeve. The door opened before too long, and Jeff didn't look up. He felt a weight rest on the bed beside him.

~_Do you plan to tell me what all this was about?~_ Michael's voice asked.

"...No." Jeff mumbled.

~_Too bad. Speak up, Jeffery.~_ Slender said a bit harsher.

Jeff took a shaky breath,"There were just these...kids in the city. They manage to find me everytime I go there, and say stuff about what happened to me…" he paused, his body tense as he bit his lip.

"They were old 'friends'...and they told me how my parents' murderer...me...killed them because he felt...sorry for them,"

His voice was choked with emotion and his head lowered.

"A-And they were right. I'm a pathetic, no-good nuisance-"

~_Jeff, you are not p-~_

Jeff shot up off the bed, turning to glare at Michael, tears running down his face.

"_Don't tell me I'm not what I really am!" _He screamed, sobs breaking into his voice,"_I can't do __**anything**_ _right! _I can't even live here without causing a bunch of trouble! You hate me and I know it! All I ever do is stress you out and I deserved to get hurt! I-"

Jeff's rant was cut short by a cry of pain as Michael stood and turned him, smacking his behind hard. Again, he did this. Jeff squirmed in a protest while Michael only responded by tucking the teen under his arm and continuing. Just over ten, he stopped, feeling Jeff's shaking frame against his side as his sobs grew louder, giving up fighting and burying his face in his hands. Michael hated to do that, but he had no other option at this point.

He let Jeff stand, and he sat back down on the bed, pulling the teen to his side and hugging him. Jeff's sobs calmed after a few moments, gasping in shaky, tear-filled breaths.

~_I don't __**ever**_ _want to hear you talk yourself down like that...am I understood?~_ Slender man told him.

Jeff nodded limply, taking in another ragged breath.

~_And as for hating you, Jeff, I don't. If I really couldn't stand you, I'd have sent you back to the institute months ago. You're the closest thing to a son I have and the only thing I have to care for.~_ Slender man continued.

Jeff sniffled and blushed, looking down at his feet as he swung them gently.

"...Thanks." He mumbled, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

Michael only sighed and rubbed his back, letting him calm fully. Later, Jeff was back to his old self, and they watched a few movies.


End file.
